


Fables of the Feline Kind

by helo572



Series: Tumblr Prompts [9]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Cats, First Meetings, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Fall of Overwatch, Pre-cyborg Genji, Prompt Fic, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-19 05:07:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13116669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helo572/pseuds/helo572
Summary: #2. dragonhardt & “i know it’s 3 in the morning, but i can’t find my cat”





	Fables of the Feline Kind

**Author's Note:**

> this was written for my gorgeous babe [mai](galaxydetective.tumblr.com) ! he prompted me #2 from this [ask meme](http://talizorahs.tumblr.com/post/161952211674/writing-prompts): “i know it’s 3 in the morning, but i can’t find my cat”
> 
> i had so much fun with these two dorks. ENJOY!!!!

They give him temporary quarters in the main wing, a stone’s throw from the other visiting dignitaries and commanding officers. In a way, it’s assuring, a bubble to shield him from what he’s doing here. Safeguards be damned, Sojiro Shimada could track Genji to ends of the earth, if he wanted to. Should he find his son openly defying him, spilling out their dangerous family secrets to Overwatch, there would be a whole world of pain.

 

Settled in the higher-than-regulation bed, this thought train takes him for quite a while, tracing the pattern of the Shimada dragons into the grey ceiling. With his…. betrayal, the ancient forces do not stir at his thoughts, but sit dormant in his chest like a heavy anchor. Even in the face of the right thing to do, the dragons judge him.

 

Somebody knocks at the door.

 

It’s late, the Lieutenant who escorted him into the orientation told him to retire for the day. He was meeting with Morrison today, Reyes, all of the guard famed from during the Crisis. He had wondered, really, if they were all the reasons he was here: seeing the good that can be done in the hands of the right people. Sojiro did nothing but destroy. Which made him wonder if it was instead Hanzo that forced his hand to Overwatch, the fear of their father twisting his brother up into the very thing they both swore never to become.

 

Too late to ponder, about the dragons, his father and his brother, and for somebody to be knocking at the door. Still, Genji pads across the floor to answer, only to find the open doorway empty to the darkness. The light from his room stretches out into the corridor, a rectangle of light to catch a large shadow of the figure who had been wandering away from his door.

 

He is to Genji’s right, walking away, a massive man who looms in the darkness. He’s stopped at the opening of Genji’s door, and before he can consider whether this man is an assassin sent by his father, Reinhardt Wilhelm has stepped into the light of his doorway.

 

“Oh, hello!” He’s grinning from ear to ear, like Genji is an old friend and they haven’t seen each other since the dawn of time. “How good it is you are awake, I wasn’t sure!”

 

That is _the_ Reinhardt Wilhelm, legendary Crusader and hero of the Crisis, standing before him in his pajamas and messy blonde hair. Meeting Morrison and Reyes was enough, but _this_ , _here_ . Luckily, the extraordinary man doesn’t seem to notice his spluttering, continuing, “I _know_ it’s three in the morning, but I can’t find my cat. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated, if you could render it, my good sir!”

 

 _Cat_ . Reinhardt Wilhelm, the Hero of the Twelve Battles of Rome, the Rocket King, a member of the fabled Overwatch Strike Team, had a _cat_ . On base. And was standing in front of Genji right now, blonde-haired and illustrious, completely drop dead _gorgeous_ . It seemed the posters never did him justice, besides him towering over Genji now and the notion he had a _cat_.

 

“Mister…”

 

His mouth supplies for him, “Shimada.” Then he has to clear his throat, because he’s clearly already piqued Reinhardt’s interest, whether by title or finally looking up at him. “I would…. Definitely help you to find your cat. Of course. I’d be completely thrilled to help.”

 

Reinhardt beams so wide Genji fears his face may split in two, but the clap on the shoulder is worse, making Genji consider whether he’d be able to fight one-handed for the rest of his life.

 

“Thank you, good Shimada Genji!” the knight booms. The correct use of his surname _and_ obvious quick obsession has Genji’s eyebrows climbing, but luckily Reinhardt does not see as he’s already creeping down the corridor. “I last saw her scuttle down here, I dropped my helm I was cleaning you see, scared her. I feel so bad!”

 

“Oh,” he says, the epitome of eloquence and son of a lord. “Well. An accident, definitely. Accidents happen. I’m sure she’ll understand.” His door slides shut as he follows the massive knight down the dark corridor, leaving them with little light to speak of.

 

“I’m sure she will too! I just worry for her, she’s so good at getting lost. Very curious. And you know what they said, ah, what is it? Curiosity! Yes, curiosity is what kills the cat.”

 

Genji’s eyebrows cannot climb any further up his forehead, save disappearing into his hairline. “I’m sure that’s not…. uh, not what will happen here. At all. She’ll be fine.”

 

“Pebbles!”

 

This night, surely, could not get any weirder than the last two minutes of Genji’s life. The cat of the esteemed Reinhardt Wilhelm, the very _handsome_ Reinhardt Wilhelm (in the flesh before him now), was called _Pebbles_.

 

They tip-toe through the wing, winding through the separate corridors together, looking for Reinhardt’s missing cat. He describes her in such detail: a brown tabby, with three white stripes encircling her left, back paw. One ear is slightly bigger than the other, the largest of which stands slightly lopsided. The tips of her ears are also white, the speckles of which continue down to her eyes, like she’s been snowed on.

 

“She sounds like a very nice cat,” is all Genji can say to that.

 

“She is! My pride and joy! She is wonderful at keeping me company, truly, a man’s best friend.” Then, he turns to Genji, pausing them in the walkway between the sitting room and a the kitchen, still somehow grinning from ear-to-ear. “And to hunt the halls for her with you, Shimada Genji, makes this a glorious adventure!” There’s another clap on the shoulder which has the both of them laughing, until Reinhardt cuts off abruptly, eyes wide. “One with a wonderful resolution!” he booms, and Genji turns to see the object of Reinhardt’s desires: Pebbles, creeping up the corridor behind them, one ear raised and eyes inquisitive at Reinhardt’s new partner in crime. “Pebbles, my dear! Where have you been?!”

 

Reinhardt scoops her up in a single hand, hugging her to his face, and presses a big kiss to the side of her head. Through the whole ordeal, the cat sits contently, purring as Reinhardt cradles her in his arms.

 

“Thank you for helping me find her!” He sounds so earnest, Genji has to laugh again, a mix of wonder and bewilderment in his eyes. “You will be a true asset to Overwatch, Shimada Genji. I am glad they would take you here with us.”

 

That piques his prior interest before, as does the shy look in Reinhardt’s eyes, disguised as he glances down to smooth his massive hand through Pebbles’ fur. “You knew I was coming?”

 

“Ah, yes. Some of the guard were informed. A… precaution. Yes. A precaution, should your clan try anything.”

 

“And you…. asked me to help you find your cat?”

 

In the low light, Genji swears Reinhard is blushing. His eyes have not left Pebbles, still perched in his arms, the image of content. “Yes,” he answers, voice suddenly soft. “And to meet you. Of course. I was most intrigued.”

 

“Oh." Yet another display of eloquence, Genji has to rub the back of his neck. “That is very flattering, Mr Wilhelm. Thank you.”

 

“Please, it’s Reinhardt to all my friends!” Now he does look up, grinning again, but there is the tinge of pink of his cheeks. “And a drink to those friends who help me find Pebbles! Tomorrow, Genji, if you would join me? I would love to thank you properly.”

 

Suddenly, the tale of the lost cat seems very akin to a complicated set up for a date. Not that Genji particularly minds.

 

“I would be most humbled,” he replies, with a bow of his head. Reinhardt is still smiling when he meets his eyes again, fingers slowly coursing through his cat’s fur. Not only is the cat content, Reinhardt is, too. “Where should I meet you?”

 

“I will pick you up. Seeing as I stumbled across your room tonight. It will save you the trouble of Morrison’s terrible sense of direction.”

 

They both laugh again, a wonderful sound: Reinhardt’s deep baritone and Genji’s light tenor. Pebbles purrs.

 

“Then it’s a drink,” agrees Genji. “I will see you tomorrow.” Another bow, deeper this time, and neither man can wipe the smile off their faces. “Goodnight, Reinhardt.”

 

“Gute Nacht!”

 

Suddenly, the whole arrangement here in Zurich doesn’t seem _as_ bad.

**Author's Note:**

> thank u for reading x


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